Born in Baghdad in 1950, Zaha Hadid studied from 1972 architecture at the London Architectural Association and won the Diploma Prize in 1977. She became a partner in the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), with the architect Rem Koolhaas, and went on to found her own studio in London.

Zaha Hadid is constantly pushing back the limits of design as she experiments with spatial quality in a range of work that goes from interior design, through products to furniture.

Her paintings and drawings have always been an important testing ground and form part of the collections of prestigious museums, such as the MOMA of San Francisco.

Best known for her architecture (the Vitra Fire Station and Landesgartenschau in Germany, the Strasbourg Tram Station, the Bergise ski jump at Innsbruck and the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center), her fundamental concerns have led her to combine her profession, teaching and research.

In 2004, she was the first woman to be awarded the Pritzker Prize for Architecture.